


Fallout

by weazelbeater



Series: Love and War [16]
Category: Kill la Kill
Genre: Alien Biology, Bedtime Stories, F/F, Flash Forward, Medical Procedures, Technobabble, Violence, hardmode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-13 22:36:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10523331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weazelbeater/pseuds/weazelbeater
Summary: ‘Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.’ - Aristotle





	

 

 

‘'Tis not where we lie, but whence we fell; the loss of heaven's the greatest pain in hell.’ - Pedro Calderon de la Barca 

 

\- Five years later –

 

 

“Jun? What’s wrong, sweet pea? Are you crying?”

“ _*sniff*_ Mama! I’m s-scared of the dark! There’s _*sniff* monsters_ there!”

“Uh-ohhh. Hmm, that means it’s time for a bedtime story! C’mere, angel. Let’s talk about the dark.”

“O-okay. Are you going to be brave and beat up the monsters for me?”

“Well, I don’t think it’ll be necessary. You are brave girl, too! Ya just don’t know it yet. Here we go now, grab Samurai Bear, and he’ll be yer escort and protect ya during the story, okay?”

“Um…uh-huh. I got him…”

“Okay. Now this is a tale from a long time ago. It’s the story of a _rōnin…_ a drifter with no place to call home. She was a really brave warrior, and she was determined to set things right for the people throughout all her homeland.”

“Was she pretty?”

“Yeah, she was pretty darned cute, all things considered. But what was really important was that she was an _amazing_ fighter. As tough as they come! But some really bad stuff happened in her life, events that she had no control over, and she ended up being kicked out of her very own home at a really young age! Yeah, she was forced to leave her family and travel the world alone, looking for answers to what happened and a way to make things right again.”

“That’s sad, Mama. It’s not fair!”

“No, it wasn’t…but life ain’t fair, sometimes. So what happened was that this big dragon took over the whole family. It was a big white dragon with rainbow scales! And it was _so_ strong, no one could do anything about it. Now you might think it was the good guy, being all made of rainbows and white light and such…but it was really as bad as they come! It hurt lots and lots of people, and everybody was sad that such a big bully ruined such a nice family and made everything suck for everyone. It even hurt its  own family members, like _all_ the time! It was _super_ awful.”

“I don’t like that dragon. Why was it so mean?”

“Well, its soul was just _so_ rotten. Even though it looked pretty on the outside, it was all darkness and evil on the inside. So the rōnin eventually came back to fix things, when she finally figured out all of the bad stuff that happened to make things so terrible for everyone she loved. So she set out to defeat the evil rainbow dragon! But she just wasn’t strong enough. The white dragon was _so_ super powerful! So the rōnin had to put on a very special set of armor. It was a magic suit that made her into a dragon herself!”

“Whoooaaa!”

“I know, right? So she had to turn into a dragon just to fight one, and she looked really mean and scary. She became this huge red and black _blood dragon_ , so she could take on the bad white rainbow dragon. _Raarrgh!_ Now she couldn’t do this alone, ya see. The princess of the castle had to come out and help the poor rōnin. The princess was the _only_ one who knew the truth all about that bad rainbow dragon’s plans, so she had to be sneaky and go behind the dragon’s back, or else that evil lizard would just beat her up too! So when that red and black dragon appeared, everybody around her saw this big, scary beast of darkness! They were all too scared to help make things right. But the princess… _she_ was smart enough to look past the scariness and see the rōnin’s true form. She knew that the rōnin was really good inside and wasn’t evil or scary, like everyone else had assumed. Together, they defeated the evil dragon forever! The princess gave the rōnin back her true home again, and they all lived happily ever after!

“Wow…that’s awesome! The princess was really smart, right?”

“Oh yeah, she was the smartest princess _ever!_ She always wanted to get rid of the bad dragon, but she couldn’t do it alone. But thanks to the brave rōnin, she didn’t have to be alone in her fight anymore. Being alone is the worst, and I’ll bet ya just might think that yer all alone, here in this bedroom. But it just ain’t true! Jun, you will _never_ be alone.”

“Whoa…I can’t wait until I’m old, so I can be brave all the time like you.”

“Oh yeah? What would ‘old’ be to you, huh?”

“Um…seven!”

“Seven is _old_ now? Wow, wait until I tell everybody else about that! That makes me positively ancient! I’m almost _twenty-five!_ Does that make me ‘old’ now, Jun?”

“Uh-huh. That’s why I don’t wanna be a little kid anymore…I wanna be more like you, Mama. Because you’re the bravest!”

“Okay. But before you can escape the ‘youth’ of being six-“

“I’m six and a half now!”

“Oh, I know. But for now, here you are stuck at six and a _half _ years old, and ya gotta get some sleep. So now _you_ can be the smart princess, and Samurai Bear here can be the rōnin to help you, okay? Do you know how tough Samurai Bear is, Jun? He’s sooo tough, he can even chase away _Mommy Satsuki’s_ bad dreams! That’s why we have him protecting you.”

“ _*gasp*_ Mamasassy has bad _dreams_? No way! She’s the bravest Mommy ever!”

“Well ya see, now that’s the thing, Princess Cuddlebug…everybody has bad dreams sometimes, and everybody has to be eventually brave and beat them. Even her, and even me. But there’s no monster out there that can’t be beaten with love. She loves you and I love you, and Samurai Bear here loves you! With a team like that, you just can’t lose!”

“Does Uncle Soroi love me, too?”

“Of _course_ he does! Everybody loves you, ‘cause yer just the cutest little girl _ever_! Aunty Mako and Uncle Ira and everybody who comes over to see you all love you to bits! It’s because yer so brave and awesome! Everybody wants to meet the girl that can defeat her own bad dreams! Can ya do it, my little Jun Bug?”

“I can do it! I have my roamin’ bear, he’ll protect me!”

“Well, it’s actually ‘ _rōnin’_...but that’s right! Because sometimes…sometimes the _darkness_ is the real hero, so there’s no need to be scared of it. Just like the smart princess, lookin’ at that red and black dragon, sometimes ya gotta look a little deeper to see what’s really goin’ on. There aren’t any monsters living around here, sweetie. They’re just too scared of _us_ , a family made of the bravest girls ever!”

“Thank you, Mamayuko. I’m sorry I was a bad girl.”

“Aw, no way is that true, cutie! You weren’t bein’ bad at all, ‘kay? It’s okay to be scared sometimes, that’s totally normal! But ya don’t wanna be afraid _all_ the time, so sometimes it’s better to try to be brave, then you’ll see that there was really nothing to be afraid of, after all!”

“Okay! I’ll be brave now!”

“Besides, without the darkness you wouldn’t be able to see fireflies!”

“Oooh, I like fireflies…”

“I know ya do! They are super pretty and bright…just like you, my little ‘Glowy Butt’!”

“Mama! My bum doesn’t _glow! Hmph!_ ”

“Oi, maybe not, but what if maybe…it did? Maybe sometimes it does, when ya ain’t lookin’? Wouldn’t that be so silly?”

“Yes. That _is_ silly. People butts _don’t_ glow. Only bug butts do that.”

“Okay, ya got me. You are just too smart sometimes, my clever little princess.”

“I’ll be brave now, I promise.”

“I know. Get some sleep, my beautiful princess. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mamayuko.”

“Okay…lights out…hmm–hmm-hmmmmm…dum ta dum…aaand, ta-daah!”

“Welcome back. Is she all right?”

“Oh, sure. Just a lesson in handling the big, bad darkness, that’s all. I think she’ll be all right. I got Samurai Bear on the case. Oh yeah, and apparently we are both ‘old’ now, according to her? Congratulations to both of us for making it to ‘old age’, I guess.”

“Ah yes, so I heard. That was a masterfully told fairy tale, I must say! One thing to remember though, in regards to your story…I’m the dragon here, not you.”

“Wrong, Sats, That was part of the Kiryuin name. You _ain’t_ a Kiryuin anymore. _Now_ you are just a plain old princess! Sorry about the demotion from being ‘Queen Steel Britches’.”

“Hmm. I see. Oh, very well. I suppose I shan’t argue with that logic. I am glad you got up before me. You have a talent for empathy that I cannot hope to match.”

“Nonsense! You just gotta loosen up, is all. C’mere, I’ll show ya juuust how to do that…”

”Not now, Ryuko. Jun might still be awake!”

“Naw, she’s out like a light. Come on. I’ll just scootch over there…”

“I won’t let you.”

“Aw, seriously? Come on, look deep into my eyes and tell me it would be so bad, huh?”

“ _*tsk*_ …you are incorrigible.”

“So…corridge me, then.”

“I won’t let you bait me.”

“Aw. I’ll be sad.”

“Then _be_ sad.”

“I’m sad now.”

“Fine…I don’t-oh, _stop_ it with that look.”

“Can’t. You let me be all sad. I shall now fall deep into a deeeeep pit of deepest Satsuki-caused woe and misery…”

“*sigh* Well, now. I suppose I can’t let you do that, either…no falling into dark pits on _my_ watch.”

“Heh…no. No, you cannot allow that. So save me, Princess Satsuki! Save me… _again_.”

 

 

\- Present day -

 

 

“Ryuko! I will _not_ let you do this!”

“No other choice here, Satsuki…no choice. Sorry it turned out this way. You’ve always said how strong I was…well, being strong sometimes means being able to let go. Dying won’t be the hardest thing I’ve ever done…that would be saying g-goodbye to _you_. I just wanna thank you from the bottom of my soul for loving me…at least someone actually did, even fully knowing what I  really am, deep inside. _You truly are the greatest thing that ever happened to me_. I love you, onee-sama. Goodbye.”

 _“_ Ryuko-chan! _Please… **NO!** ”_

She squeezed the trigger.

Satsuki’s instantaneous response could have been measured in milliseconds. “ _Ki!_ ” she screamed as her daring sabotage scheme was immediately set into hypersonic motion.

Satsuki hurled the glass ampule within her coat pocket with a hyperfast pitch of unbelievable speed and precision. Streaking across the hall, it glimmered briefly before impacting squarely upon the falling hammer of the pistol clenched in Ryuko’s hand.

Shattering, it spread out a starburst cloud of glittering powder across her torso, the likes of which could have been mistaken for a dash of the darkest chalk. The properties of this substance were rather unique, in that the molecules triggered an unstoppable reaction upon making contact with certain metallic materials. It was created, much like many other inventions, completely by accident and while actually aiming for the opposite effect.

A revolutionary dry lubricant was the focus of these material research experiments: analysis of this particular compound pointed towards that possibility, but the actual outcome was considered to be a massive failure at the time. Upon contact with metal objects, it irrevocably friction-welded them together, permanently compelling any mated surfaces together with hardly any heat or other dangerous side-effects.

 The caveat to this was that it was an instantaneous reaction. No last second positioning of parts was possible: once the powder contacted the metal’s surface, it reacted and became something of a momentary superfluid, immediately coating the entirety of all the juxtaposed surfaces with a mere atoms-thick bond…that happened to become near-indestructible in the process. That was the other issue, that _all_ surfaces were affected: one could not choose to apply it to just one particular piece. The entire device, every separate mechanical piece in the device was wholly coated through adjoining contact as an unavoidable repercussion of this lightning-quick chemical event.

This is what happened now: the pistol’s intricate moving parts were transubstantiated into a solid block of useless steel in the blink of a hybrid’s eye. Satsuki had gambled with all her valiant heart that the test sample would work precisely as intended, and it did so with miraculous results. The irony of the situation was that Ryuko was being saved by a creation made with her own help, and derived from her very own body.

The Kiryuin warrior crossed over the gaping chasm in a blindingly quick display of speed and tactical prowess, taking deft advantage of the confusion that followed. Eyes tightly clamped shut, Ryuko was still vainly squeezing the gun’s trigger, expecting her heart to be either bloodily perforated or violently detonated, she wasn’t quite sure which. A kinetic wrecking-balled fist crashed into her forehead, dazing the stunned hybrid back from the overwhelming blow as the gun dropped to the ground.

Satsuki paused ever so briefly to utter a quiet exclamation before she initiated the next brutal steps of her daring disarmament procedure; her voice was low and her chest ached as she whispered delicately towards Ryuko’s quivering torso. “I need to pound some sense into you, dear heart. For this, I apologize.”

A sharp, whipping blow to the auricularis magnus nerve under Ryuko’s ear was employed, immediately disrupting the flow of her consciousness. A devastating knife hand to the carotid artery then changed its blood flow dynamics with surgical precision, causing a sudden, precipitous drop in blood pressure within Ryuko’s fevered brain. The young girl just hovered there, as though no one had thought to inform her body that gravity was about to win this one.

Finally, a crushing _hasami-zuki_ strike was relentlessly deployed to both sides of Ryuko’s chest, the force of the vicious scissor punch taking with it the last shred of fight left within the confused girl. Knocked out cold, Ryuko was propelled backwards before violently impacting the cold, crusty ground with a sickening * _thud*_ as a rushing cloud of darkness took over her distraught mind.

These moves could never be employed upon a normal human with such devastating power, Satsuki grimly pondered, as they would most certainly lead to permanent incapacitation and possibly even immediate death…but Ryuko was no normal person. Satsuki had to go all out for her, so mercy was withheld in favor of brutally cold efficiency. She was hoping that these attacks would not trigger the wrathful vengeance of Ryuko’s autonomous life fibers, embedded deep within the lovely girl’s compact frame. She had calculated that, based upon her previous experiences, they would seek to rise up and externally defend their host only if truly life-threatening force had been implemented….otherwise they would have most certainly emerged to snuff out Satsuki’s life a dozen times over by now. For hidden life fibers to willingly break free of their fleshy hybrid cover, circumstances would have to be quite dire, indeed.

Immensely relieved at this resolution, Satsuki then quietly reflected upon the fact that, had she reacted the way her younger self would have, to defeat the young hybrid in personal combat by using her arsenal of fiber-nullifying blades? They might both be very dead right about now. Ryuko’s fibers would have most likely reacted in a most unfavorable manner to any sort of truly horrific or traumatic penetration, and Satsuki might have been sliced to ribbons herself as a result. Hmm…how would her _own_ fibers react to such terrible trauma, anyways? Might they potentially harbor the same automatic, life-preserving tactics…? Better to not ponder the ramifications of that right now, though. That’s the kind of stuff that could keep one awake at night, long after they desired sleep to take them.

Primary objective now miraculously achieved, Satsuki then fiddled with her earpiece and hastily dialed one of the emergency contacts. She steadied her breathing as the line was picked up. “Mikisugi! Report! Current E.T.A.?”

“I am almost there, Lady Satsuki. I shall arrive at your location in approximately, ah…seven minutes? The lab has been prepped for our arrival, and I now have Inumuta there, running preliminary diagnostics on the security equipment as we speak. So Ryuko _was_ at the ruins after all, as you suspected! Is she all right?”

“Affirmative. She has been secured for the moment. Did you bring the inhibitor prototype, as we discussed?”

“Indeed I did. Ah, poor, poor Ryuko-kun…I simply cannot believe that all of this ended up being necessary, after all. That girl, she is a real trouble magnet!”

“Perhaps, but we shall forgive her transgressions, regardless. I’m beginning to suspect that nothing has been her fault, since the very beginning. Do not tarry! We haven’t much time before she recovers from…from what I had to do to secure her.”

“I see. Arriving shortly. Mikisugi out.”

Ending the call, Satsuki then gazed down upon her beloved sister’s prostrate form. Retrieving the pistol, she briefly examined its action, noting the experimental fusion powder’s efficacy in the field. She estimated that the hammer had been flash-welded approximately mid-fall: Ryuko had been less than a millimeter from certain death. It was a hellish gambit, but it was vastly superior to the prospect of whispering farewells to Ryuko’s cooling corpse after being regrettably sliced to bits by Satsuki’s blades. Her fanatical drive to possess unerring accuracy was proving to be a most welcome blessing in disguise on this chilly evening...of course, possessing massively boosted reflexes and strength were turning out to be quite useful, as well.

She reluctantly left Ryuko’s still form to dart back to her vehicle in a hasty blur, rummaging in the trunk for a certain container. Hastening back to the ruins with breathtaking speed, she quickly uncapped the anti-fiber coagulant launcher she had once fortuitously hidden within the trunk as part of her ‘worst-case’ precautions. This substance had repeatedly been used in the past to quell the blood-frenzied Junketsu and save Lady Kiryuin Satsuki from being consumed by its maddening thirst for domination, and it worked once again to prevent disaster from befalling another being of her blood as she liberally coated Ryuko’s body with the chilled vapors.

The young hybrid’s limbs jerked and twitched, myoclonus animating her muscles as though a puppeteer were attempting to rouse her up from unseen heights…unfortunately, this was most likely not too far from the actual truth. Satsuki could not prevent a deep frown from overtaking her stone-cold business expression at this sight, deeply disturbing the Kiryuin warrior even as she continued to rain the anesthetic mist down upon her unconscious sibling.

“I will save you from yourself, Ryuko-chan…because you are _not_ yourself right now. This much is plainly obvious. Someday you will come to accept that fact that I will always be there to catch you when you fall… _always!_ ”

 

 

\- Five years later -

 

 

The mist continued to fall, a brief summer shower that always served to refresh the park’s parched grass. It started to peter out as the black sedan pulled into the parking lot, a light, billowing halo drifting down as dark clouds gave way to warm afternoon sunshine.

“Wow, the grass is all soaked! See the lights all twinkling on the blades of grass, Jun? That’s real pretty, huh? Hey, now yer sure ya still wanna run around in all that mucky grass? Those sneakers will get all squishy and yucky! I don’t wanna hear any complaints if ya do, all right?”

“Yes, please! I can handle a little water, Mamayuko!”

“Okay, get along then. Be careful! Don’t slip and fall!”

“Uh-huh! Thank you!”

“Well now, look at her go! She’s a real trooper, all right. Whoops, she fell! Aw, she’s already back up again. Zoom!”

“Mmm. What else would you expect? She is fanatically dedicated to the very idea of fun and frivolity.”

“Well, c’mon. That’s the best way to be!”

“I suppose that is true. You would know.”

“Aw, you _know_ it. What about you? Be a real shame to get your nice work skirt all muddy. You gonna stay in the car?”

“I can handle a little water, ‘Mama Ryuko’.”

“Oooh, is _that_ how it is, 'Mama _Sassy_ '?”

“That is not how she pronounces it.”

“Yeah, but I _like_ calling you ‘Mama Sassy’, though. It fits you so damned well.”

“Oh, please. You are the very spirit of sass! Not I, you sarcastic wench.”

“Umm…you might be better at hiding it, but just because you always flaunt the deadpan attitude doesn’t mean I can’t detect the underlying sarcasm lurking underneath it.”

Satsuki reached over and covered Ryuko’s hand with her own, gently squeezing as they made eye contact. “I mean this most sincerely. Fuck you, Matoi.”

Ryuko smirked, impish grin bringing her lips to a puckered, mischief point. “Right back atcha… _Matoi_.”

Lady Matoi Satsuki sighed and rolled her eyes, swiftly opening the car door as she did. Wincing as she cracked her back, the young woman made a note to visit her chiropractor again. Some expert adjustments, along with some acupuncture, would serve to ease the ceaseless beast that writhed in her spine for a brief while. Hmm, perhaps a trip to the health spa might be in order, then? Yes, that heated stone treatment felt so very good to her scarred and tired body. Ah, that would be her gift to herself: a weekend of luxurious indulgence! Perhaps she might even let Ryuko tag along, if she promised to not snicker at the New Age music the spa always piped in.

“Oi. I’m drivin’ home after this.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m fine.”

“It’s been a long week. I got it.”

“Very well. You have my thanks. I shall make it up to you.”

“Oh, I _know_ you will.”

They meandered over to a park bench as Jun whooped and hollered along with a small group of kids that had been corralled by their respective parents into this quiet park. Satsuki carefully wiped off the remaining moisture from the bench with a handkerchief so both ladies could sit without their crotches being liberally soaked in public for all the wrong reasons.

“Wow, look at her go. She’s a real spitfire!”

“Indeed. The energy she possesses is quite stunning! It’s a miracle we can ever siphon off the excess before her bedtime.”

Sneakered hoofbeats signaled the arrival of an excited young magic unicorn, still out of breath from her hurried dash over to the bench. She hurriedly transformed back into a human girl while she pleaded her newest case to the mother jury.

“Can I get pigtails…? Chiba-san and Nomi-san are here, and _they_ got pigtails! Can I get them too? Pleeeease?”

Jun gathered her unruly blonde hair into two clumps, swishing the makeshift tails playfully in an effort to underline just how very cute they would be, these being the ultimate expression of playground fashion at the moment.

Satsuki blanched for a moment, haunted by the flare-up of a sudden, unpalatable memory. Her eyes looked away as she murmured her approval. “Of course, darling. We can arrange that once we get home. I’m afraid that we don’t have any hair elastics to use here at the moment…”

“I can get some from Chiba-san, she has some in her-”

“ _No_ , Jun. No sharing of hair accessories! You know the rules. We don’t need to risk lice again, now do we?”

“No, Mamasassy…I remember…”

“Oi, cheer up, baby girl! We’ll get it all together when we get home, okay? You’ll have the best pigtails ever! In fact, I can even show you what _braided_ pigtails would look like!”

“ _*gasp*_ Awesome! Thankyouthankyou _thankyou_ Mamayuko!”

She zoomed off, excited at the prospect of showing up the next day with braided pigtails…why, plain old pigtails were _already_ out of fashion, as far as she was concerned.

“You okay?”

“Certainly. Why do you ask?”

“I saw that look.”

“It meant nothing, I assure you.”

“Bullshit. You had an image of Nui flash by, just now. A little blonde girl with pigtails, haunting yer daydreams outta nowhere?”

“I--! I’m…it meant nothing. * _sigh*_ Ryuko-san, you…are quite perceptive, at times.”

“S’ok, Satsuki. I can see that being a thing, growing up next to such a creepy monster.”

“Yes, well…Jun is one little blonde girl that shall have the sweetest and most precious childhood. Imagine that: we adopted a half-French, half-Japanese orphan. A _happy_ blonde girl, genuinely loved by those of Kiryuin blood! Oh, the delicious irony!”

“Yeah, and soon with pigtails, too! Hey, as long as ya don’t call her a ‘pig in human clothing’…”

“I would do no such thing! Hush up, you snide rodent.”

“Hey! That’s Nonon’s line! She even trademarked it, I’ll have you know. You can call me ‘bitch’, thank you very much!”

 

 

\- Present day -

 

 

“ _Bitch!_ BITCH! Let me out of this thi- _*BZZZZT*_ - _urk!-_...uhh...not going to _stand_ for this insolence! Mmmrrrr...rip your bloody thrr _RRRR_ rroats ouuuttt...damned meat puppets...hrrr...”

A glowing blue ring encircled the young hybrid’s straining neck, corded tendons standing out in sharp relief as she writhed and sweated on the steel bed. Electric blue cords connected the collar to similar wrist manacles, these being attached to ankle cuffs as well. Crackling energy pulses rippled through the circuits, inhibiting Ryuko’s horribly savage urges to rend human flesh at will. Rivulets of drool leaked from clenched razor canines as she hatefully glared at the figures gathered at the observation room’s bulletproof window. Thick reinforced chains rattled as the fiber demon pawed weakly at the air between them, snarling and mumbling hints of horrible atrocities as she bitterly fumed.

Mikisugi rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, poring over readouts and computer monitors as they told him a most unfortunate tale. “The pulses disrupt the fibers for a brief while. Those rings and cords contain a molecular cloud of specially processed life fiber dust, manipulated and charged to polarize opposite of the ones in Ryuko. They resonate, canceling their power out and short-circuiting her in the process. It’s loosely based upon the impenetrable shield that once protected the Academy’s antenna. The fact that she is recovering so quickly is not a good sign, however. This situation has been building for quite some time, I’d wager...possibly even years. How she got this far without succumbing, without losing herself to this murderous chaos is surely a testament to her sheer willpower!”

Inumuta grunted as he carefully eyed the outputs from the program that modulated these nullification circuits. Satisfied by the flat plateau of energy readings, he nodded in response. “I concur. This is not a ‘worst-case’ scenario anymore, but it could easily turn into one again without careful management of her treatment options.”

“There isn’t exactly a wealth of options at our disposal, right now. There is still so much we do not know of this hybrid process…the wrong move could kill her.”

Inumuta’s blue lenses dropped down, eyes focusing directly onto Mikisugi’s darting orbs as they scanned over the data. “What do you suggest as the most likely course of treatment, knowing what we know now?”

“Well…we’re simply going to have to neutralize her fibers, once and for all. We have no other choice. I do not wish to interfere with the natural growth cycle of a mostly uncharted species, but this quite plainly is an untenable situation. This blood lust is overwhelming her! She simply cannot be trusted in such a state.”

“She will not be _‘neutralized’!_ Ryuko is my dearest heart, I’ll not have you discussing ideas like that with such…grim finality! Gentleman, you are the best shot she has of regaining a normal life! I would ask you to please focus your considerable talents! We can get through this _if_ we can just find a workable solution!”

“Lady Satsuki, I didn’t mean _‘neutralize’_ in the manner you are-“

“ ** _If._** ”

The cold, guttural exclamation emanated from the far corner of the room. Tsumugu took a drag from his ever-present cheap cigarette, smoke wafting over him like his own personal storm cloud of foul funk. Arms crossed, with one boot propped up on the wall behind him, he observed these proceedings with a cold pit of ice in his chest. This always seemed to be his lot in life: cursed to watch people’s sisters die from life fiber-related situations.

He was not happy about this at all, and his dour mood showed it. Of course, that could also have been from his recent concussion as well. With his ‘first-strike’ starch bullet gun now regrettably confiscated from his hybrid assassination arsenal, he could now only observe these dire proceedings with a rueful eye.

Kiryuin Satsuki drew up her full stature, seeking to take command of the situation as she saw fit. “Let me in there. I need to speak to her.” Tsumugu reacted by surreptitiously reaching for his new needle gun, slung behind his right side, away from the room’s main alcove.

“I do _not_ recommend this course of action. The safety of everyone here is paramount to your own fawning urges, Kiryuin. It would be best if we waited until we had her sealed up in some sort of permanent imprisonment vessel or even an incinerato- _hukk!”_

A trio of paralysis needles suddenly appeared in Tsumugu’s neck, summoned as though from magic by Satsuki’s deadly accurate fingers. “You are _not_ in charge, and you are also _not_ the coolest head in the room, either. I would have thought you’d have learned better the other night...you are not to even _utter_ a hint about harming my sister! I will assess her current frame of mind. I believe the inhibitor will calm her down enough for me to confirm the information regarding the how, why and when this all became a life-threatening dilemma. You, of course, would murder her at the drop of a hat, which I simply cannot allow. So take a well-deserved rest, you ‘soldier of misfortune’.”

“Y’r makin’…big mstake… _uhh--*_ ” the soldier uttered as he slumped over, dead to the world for a while. Mikisugi sighed as he rolled his eyes, then set himself upon the task of dragging his unconscious hotheaded comrade to an adjacent room.

Inumuta released a controlled rush of air, secretly glad that the trigger-happy thug was momentarily out of his scope of interference. Such a crude tool for such a delicate operation, indeed! “I would recommend exercising extreme caution, my Lady! We don’t know what might happen, so please do not allow yourself to get within striking or biting distance, regardless of her outward appearances. Those chains can only hold her because of her weakened state: do not seek to place your life in their strength alone! Please, do be proactive about this…do you wish to employ some protective fiber-resistant gear, just in case?”

“That will not be necessary. Words are the only protection I need right now, and I believe myself to be adequately equipped in that regard. But do have the anesthetic jets ready to go, in case she somehow experiences an unexpected power surge. I do not want to test the strength of that inhibitor gear mechanism… _or_ those chains. They weren’t designed to hold back her kind of raw power for very long! Nor do I wish to engage her in direct combat again…I doubt this lab would survive such a confrontation.”

“Very well. Opening the airlock in…”

“Hold on. Lady Satsuki, if something does occur, we might not be able to afford you the opportunity to escape! Do keep in mind that this whole facility was originally built by your father to contain Kiryuin Ragyo herself! There would be no fast or easy exit for you. We should-“

“Mikisugi, you may keep me sealed inside, should it come to that. This risk is calculated, and I know that she will _not_ kill me. She wants me for her plans, as I am the only living key to them being brought to fruition. Please trust me on this, Mikisugi. She needs me  alive.”

“All right. At the first sign of trouble, I shall trigger the inhibitor gas. There’s an auxiliary oxygen mask at the back of the room; use that should we have to use a prodigious amount, all right? I have yet to properly measure your new hybrid status or abilities, so that makes you the ‘unknown variable’ right now. I don’t know exactly how that gas will affect your new physiology, so use that oxygen to minimize the effects upon your own fibers. I hope you understand?”

One firm nod, and it was settled. Satsuki swiftly moved into the airlock, pneumatic locks whooshing and thunking as the preparations were made to cross over into the captive demon’s lair. Once the final atmosphere modification cycle was complete, the inner door slid open silently, granting Lady Kiryuin access to the beast quivering upon the bed.

Ryuko’s eyes were squeezed shut, her head being forced back into the pillow as though she were trying to crush the life out of it by reverse headbutting it into submission. The inhibitor was keeping up, sending neutralizing waves through her body to quell the fibers’ periodic attempts to take murderous control once more.

Satsuki stood there for a few moments, taking in the pitiful sight before her.  She steeled herself for the coming interaction, seeking to control herself as best she could. Her breaking heart was tucked behind the cold, logical engine that had served as her guide for so very long. Perhaps it might even stay that way long enough to get through this interaction?

Ryuko eventually sensed a presence in the room, and one bright red eye eventually peeked out to confirm the feeling. Both eyes flew open once the form was identified, and she jerked back as far as the inhibitor harness would allow. “Guh--hrrr--mmnnnooo! Geddoutta here! Not gonna hurt…l-love you…hrrr-- _*heff-heff*_ L-look, you ain’t safe here, Sats! Fuckin’ bail! Get the hell outta here! Please! I’m beggin’ ya! I can’t stay in the driver’s seat fer long! I won’t let ya get hurt! Go, like right friggin’ now!”

“Mmm. Well, that’s a slightly better command of your own unique language skills than before, at any rate! I’m glad. It’s a sign that _you_ are in control, far more than _they_ are. Ryuko-chan, we need to talk. Apparently we needed to talk about this long ago, but you managed to somehow obfuscate this problem enough for it to become a full-blown crisis. We need to know what is going on so we can help you. Can you focus enough to talk to me about it now?”

Ryuko shivered…then nodded jerkily, deep frown notwithstanding. Her dry throat croaked out her acknowledgement, uncertain in tone. “I got s-some time, I think. It comes in waves, I guess because of this getup. I guess you took my ‘rhino shock collar’ idea to the next level, huh? _Good._ At least ya listened to me ‘bout _that_ idea.”

“In a manner of speaking. Look, is what’s happening here what we suspect? That the fibers are in fact trying to permanently subjugate you into doing their bidding, so they can spread across the whole planet? Do they ever communicate directly to you?”

The tiniest nod confirmed it. “I…thought it was Senketsu at first. Y’know, me always talkin’ to him in times of stress and stuff. _They used his voice!_ But…Senkets would _never_ want me to do those things! I mean…to hell with the planet, they want the whole fuckin’ galaxy! I just can’t find a way to shut ‘em up! Sats, I might be nuttier than squirrel shit right now, but I don’t wanna kill my friends, or anyone for that matter! I l-love you all so much. I’m really, really sorry I did…what I did to you, and what I was _gonna_ do to the planet. I can’t take this anymore! I can’t become that cold, calculating monstrous… _thing_ again! I think it forces me to see things the way Ragyo did…I  cannot become her! I just _can’t!_ ”

“You won’t. Ryuko, please look at me.”

“No, I-“

“Please, it’s important.”

“I…please don’t hate me for this, nee-san! I’m such a coward!”

“I just need you to look into my eyes, sweetheart. Please?”

Sniffling and coughing, Ryuko slowly looked up into Satsuki’s eyes, and the elder sibling was finally able to confirm what was hinted at in the high-resolution camera feed. Ryuko’s gear-shaped eyes had mutated: they were now isotoxal spokes, an octagram star that gave the appearance of a jagged, cruel mouth. _Just like her own._ The points pulsed and shrank as they focused upon Satsuki’s worried expression.

“Ryuko. Did you know that the shape of your pupils has changed again? They now resemble mine.”

“Oh…y-yeah? Makes s-sense, considerin’ the crazy stuff I can see now... _and_ smell, and hear, and sense. Oi, it’s unbelievable…”

“Your senses are even _more_ acute now?”

“Sats, I can hear goddamned radio frequencies, see infrared and ultraviolet patterns…shit, I can smell pheromones and see b-blood patterns under people’s skin. Not just a vein here and there… _all of it!_ I…I could sense snippets of you talking to Inumuta on the phone, that day I freaked out at you. I’m sorry, I didn’t-I wasn’t, ya know, eavesdropping on purpose or anything! I just…I could somehow hear it while I was out taking the gun from the guard shack? Vibrations, in the walls, or in the glass windows I think, maybe? Shit, maybe it was the actual cell phone transmission waves themselves! I don’t actually _know_ how to interpret it, the stuff I can detect now. Heck, I think I even heard you take out Tsumugu that night, and I was like a friggin’ half kilometer away by that point! I could heard the damned location pings from that tracking device on my motorcycle, too! That’s how I found it…man, I still can’t believe Inumuta touched my damned bike! Ugh! This hypersensitivity’s driving me nuts! It’s…uh, d-distracting me _…*cough*…_ look, I’m really scared, onee-san. I simply do not wish to deal with this incredibly vexatious situation anymore! I just have a yearning desire for something I…need.”

“What, Ryuko? Tell me and I will get it for you! What do you need?”

“I need you over here, next to me. I miss your presence _so_ very much! Can you come over here and just give me a hug? I hurt inside. I feel so hollow without your touch! My heart, it aches…”

Arms opened and rattling from the inhibitors, Ryuko gestured towards the Kiryuin woman as much as the chains would allow. There was something so suddenly unnerving, about how still and placid Ryuko was acting, the gentle smile painting a billboard of pure adulation; that perfectly poised lower lip, jutting and shaking just the right way to convey a clear ‘ _Aren’t I just so very pathetic right now…please love me?_’ message.

The eyes, however…those were a predator’s eyes, sizing up their prey’s next move. The disconnect was subtle, but it was there…waiting for Satsuki to make one tiny mistake in judgment. The Kiryuin woman found herself shivering. She knew full well what it was like to be keenly observed by a predator, sexual or otherwise.

“I cannot do that right now, Ryuko. I truly am sorry.”

“What? _Why?_ Don’t you love me? I _need_ you!”

“I know. But until we can truly get this under control…”

“I _am_ under control!” Ryuko spat out, smile slowly withering as her arms started to shake.

“Yes, you are. That’s the problem.”

Her arms slackened, then suddenly shot out, reinforced chains snapping taut as slavering canines protruded out for blood. “Get your neck _over_ here, you snotty bitch! I need it! **_GraaaAAAaahh-_** _*BZZZZT*-hurrrkh-!_ “Another powerful wave blazed out from the inhibitor collar, stopping the crazed hybrid in her tracks. Ryuko lay there, limp and dazed while rivulets of drool escaped to patter upon her pillow. Satsuki knew how that bluff was going to play out, but it still spiked her heart with a terrible ache all the same. _‘Sorry, but you can’t bullshit a bullshitter, Ryuko…or whatever it was Uzu used to say, anyway...’_ She motioned silently towards the observation window, and the airlock quietly clicked open to allow her egress from the room.

 

 

-

 

 

“How is this happening? We need to know. Mikisugi, did any of your research come up with anything we can use?”

“I believe so! After reviewing the most recent data I obtained when I last examined Ryuko, I do have some solid theories. So…these life fibers. In general, they coax their host in the ‘right’ direction, to ensure that their underlying goals are met. Such is the life of this parasitical life form! Most humans lose their resistance somewhat early in life, so it was child’s play for the fibers to lock in for the long term, to eventually wear them down and nudge people in a certain subtle direction. However, if the host is somehow resistant to this subtle manipulation, they will gradually increase their power over time to compensate for it. Most people capitulate to this power early on, even the most stubborn and willful...but Ryuko is not most people! For that matter…neither are you, Lady Satsuki. Your famous willpower: Ragyo, Ryuko and yourself…it was a defining genetic characteristic in you all! Now as for Ryuko...her fibers have slowly but surely been increasing their power in direct response to her own immense resolve, but she has that supercharged Kiryuin willpower in her blood...in response, they have had to grow and grow in power, making them enormously powerful as a result! They are programmed to win at all costs! They are finally catching up to overwhelming her mind now, thanks to the shocking power boost they initiated in response to when she was shot and nearly killed. We are just now witnessing the final end result of this, when the scales finally tip over in their favor.”

Mikisugu pointed up towards the lab’s video screen, indicating to various graphs and charts as he spoke. One handkerchief swipe across his sweaty brow later, and he continued the lecture. A chart was now highlighted by his trusty laser pointer that signified their collected data on Kiryuin Ragyo’s biometric markers.

“Now, Ragyo willingly allowed this process. She lived for it, and carefully nurtured its every step...but the main reason for her immense strength was that she had a direct line to the Original Life Fiber. She received only the purest fibers, straight from the source. Ragyo worked for quite a long time to allow these life fibers to overcome her being…she was a completely willing participant! Now as you can see both here and here, Ryuko and Satsuki received genetically modified, synthetically spliced ones: these were custom tailored for their eventual reception of the ultimate kamui bonding, later in life. Little did Soichiro know that his genetic tampering was modifying the fibers to be more receptive of absorbing the host’s human genetic characteristics, as well! It was a two-way street, in that case. But about _those_ fibers: they were designed to only to unleash their  fullest potential when the host was bonded with a purebred kamui, such as Junketsu...Ragyo wanted to make sure that her ‘chosen one’ was primed to be the ultimate obedient servant before she bestowed truly godlike power upon another soul, lest they potentially rival her in sheer power! You, Satsuki, were purposefully groomed for this position...those horrible _-ah-_ ‘purification rituals’ you were regrettably forced to endure were designed to align your body and mind to accept Junketsu’s permanent fusion...by way of lessening that amazingly strong genetic resistance of yours to the fibers! It was Ragyo’s idea of a shortcut, you see: she wasn’t going to wait another decade for you to bend, so she…prematurely forced things along. Ah… _*ahem*_ …now that I know what I _didn’t_ know before...I believe that if you had actually surrendered and given yourself completely over to Junketsu in the end, it would have been able to eventually tap into your latent fibers and fully awaken them anyways, as Ryuko has now apparently done! One can only imagine what ‘Junketsu Kisaragi’ would have been like to behold, in that case! ”

He stopped to sip from a water bottle, to quell the dryness of his parched, nervous throat…then picked up his laser pointer again. It darted out a beam to illuminate one graph in particular, shaking ever-so-slightly in urgent haste as he pointed out Ryuko’s development over time.

“Now we look here. Ryuko was also groomed, but in a different manner altogether. Dr. Matoi had developed an inhibitor therapy process early on, to ease Ryuko’s naturally rising fiber power access. It eventually served as the base formula for the fiber-nulling anesthetic gas, as well as the paralysis needle bullets to a lesser extent. It was quite necessary, since as you can see here, she was already kicking everyone’s ass as a wee child! So he purposely held back her naturally growing power, since he specifically wanted Ryuko to be bonded with Senketsu at the time of _his_ choosing and not a moment before. He didn’t just want to unleash a full-power Ryuko upon her mother’s empire with unpredictable results: he designed Senketsu to act as the ultimate failsafe, betting that the close, loving bond they would share could override anything Ragyo would attempt to throw her way. Dr. Matoi knew that she would grow up to experience a lonely, anguished childhood, he…he orchestrated it to be that way in order to then present her with Senketsu: the greatest specifically-tailored best friend a lonely girl could ever want!”

Satsuki piped up just then, arms crossed as she pointed a single, accusatory finger at Aikuro’s chest. “Suppose that plan failed…what then? It was only by sheer chance that Senketsu was even discovered by Ryuko in that basement at all, since Father had been unexpectedly murdered before he could properly oversee that part of the deal! He could have been buried there forever under all of that lab’s discarded rubble. I find it hard to believe that Father would not have such a backup plan in place, given his penchant for precise planning.”

Mikisugi paused, nervously considering the path of the lie or the truth: either could earn him a sudden evisceration by the lethal elder Kiryuin sibling. Being as on the spot as he was, he sighed and bared his naked self for all to see.

“I was that backup plan. In that eventuality, I was instructed by the doctor to get close to her, win her trust, and then guide her to Senketsu at a later time. I knew of his general whereabouts, so I would have located him eventually…it’s not like anyone else knew of his existence! Once I had won her trust, I could have then properly prepared her and guided her through the kamui bonding process. Oh, she was certainly a haughty one, I’ll give her that! But the old ‘Mikisugi charm’ would have eventually won her over!”

“Oh, ‘eventually’? Really…and I find myself wondering exactly how you were to win her trust, or how long you would pleasure your supposed ‘alter ego’ in doing so. Were you ordered to callously play with her fragile heart, to overwhelm her with your ‘manly charms’? Or was there more in it for you to prove, hmm? To ‘win the heart’ of yet another pretty girl? You cannot hide forever behind that illusory façade, you know.”

Mikisugi scoffed at this wild accusation. What point was she even trying to make, anyways? “I don’t know what you are insinuating, Lady Satsuki, but my ultimate intention has _always_ been to support Doctor Matoi’s vision to the bitter end, no matter what! I knew the stakes! I always have…now _you_ may find fault with the ways I choose to operate, but I did what I had to do, and I don’t regret any of it.”

“Really? Not even the improper acknowledgement of poor Kinue’s tragic passing? Would _she_ appreciate the person you have now become, hiding behind this absurd ‘playboy’ persona so you didn’t ever have to face the bitter sadness of her loss? To pretend that _true_ love doesn’t matter? I’m here because  my true love is dying before my very eyes! You need to get your act together and face reality if I am to ever trust your true intentions!”

His face froze as a mask of compliance, but sinister emotions were boiling underneath the surface. “How dare you make presumed guesses of such absurdity, such wild shots in the dark? You couldn’t possibly know of-“

He prepared to pit his resolve against Satsuki’s, and was found to be suddenly lacking once she uttered a quiet statement. “I had been blessed with the opportunity to view my father’s own private video journals recently, hidden to all who ever knew him. There were many answers within those videos, Aikuro. I know how you once were, and _why_ you act the way you do now. I understand what grief does to one’s soul, I truly do. ‘ _Love is the reason we do anything at all.’_ I am willing to bet that sounds familiar, yes? Father said that, apparently quite often. Perhaps you would do well to finally heed what that really means? ‘ _This above all: to thine own self be true_ …’ I would find it much easier to accept your presence here if it were one based upon actual truth. This laid back ‘playboy’ mask of yours…I find that I simply cannot trust it, as it is built upon a well-versed lie. I cannot trust such a liar, because if he lies so easily to himself, what is to prevent him from lying to everyone else? I need to know that, deep down, your intentions are to help Ryuko to survive this catastrophe, _not_ to treat this as a trivial chance at yet another hollow romantic conquest! Not to just gamble away her life on a careless roll of your dice… _because I am not a gambler at heart, little man._”

Mikisugi stood there, rattled to the core by such precise commentary. It was as if she had actually been there, observing his every moment of suffering and struggling to carry on after Kinue’s tragic passing. He found his cleverly constructed mask to be but a mere papier-mâché shield, torn away effortlessly by Satsuki’s savage remarks. Now she was distrusting his very motivations for rescuing the beautiful, exotic creature known as Matoi Ryuko?

Yes, it was true that he found Ryuko-chan to be intensely alluring, an immensely attractive young woman that posed a rather distinct and insurmountable challenge. He _lived_ to overcome such challenges! It brought out his latent urge to conquer such unattainable beauty, like a dashingly handsome magnet attracted to bare, naked metal. Mikisugi likened himself to be something of a sexual mountaineer: why did he climb such mountains…? Because it’s there…and because it’s an irresistibly sexy challenge! Truth be told, he thought that if he could find a way to conquer a beautiful woman’s fickle heart, he could also somehow conquer the pain of Kinue’s passing which still lurked within his own heart. Someday, he might even gather enough courage to actually go through with such a plan. Yes, someday…

Now though…Mikisugi could see the aftereffects of such a ruse. Satsuki stared right through him with cold, distrustful eyes. He had to find a way to prove to the elder sibling that he was still a good, decent man at heart! Because he still _was_ …wasn’t he still the good, honest man that Kinue once loved with all her pure heart? Aikuro found himself bowing low before the Kiryuin woman, offering his earnest explanations for his perplexing behavior.

“Lady Satsuki, it seems as though you have me at a gross disadvantage. Yes, it is true that I hide behind a ‘mask’, as you so describe. I…when Kinue died, I was destroyed. Utterly ruined! So I found myself coping by…by projecting a persona; one who doesn’t seem to care about life’s slings and arrows, a man who feels no real pain! Perhaps I rely upon it too often. Perhaps I have earned your distrust. But I swear to you, here and now. All I have _ever_ wanted to do, when all was said and done, was to say that I helped your father bring about the world peace he so desperately hoped to achieve. I am guilty of treating Ryuko with disrespect, and my actions have insulted you as well. I can only apologize to you both from the bottom of my heart, and swear an oath that I shall never act in such a way towards her ever again. On this, you have my word.”

He raised up, his eyes damp with emotion as they sparkled with emotional fire. “I swear that I will do everything within my power to save her from this calamity, as I have done in the past. I will _not_ allow those life fibers to cruelly take her away from us! Ryuko has been forced to endure terribly unfair injustices perpetrated upon her during her lifetime; be it from family, aliens, or even fate itself! Those damned, cursed threads! They took Kinue away from me. _I won’t let them destroy Ryuko, too.”_

Satsuki’s spindly eyebrows raised up in an impressive arch, signaling her genuine surprise at such an impassioned and heartfelt speech. So there _was_ more to Mikisugi than just an overactive libido, after all. Her keen senses confirmed the earnestness of his tone, his language. He wasn’t lying to anyone…save perhaps himself, of course. But that was an emotional cross that he had to bear alone.

“Very well. I accept your apology, and I shall no longer question your resolve regarding this situation. Let us now continue to find a way to extricate Ryuko from this madness. Do we have any ideas, any theories as to how we can accomplish this? For example: does anyone know where this sudden blood craving has come from?”

Mikisugi was silently amazed at Satsuki’s resilience and tenacity. _‘Ye Gods…what an intense woman! She recovers instantly and soldiers on with an immense sense of dedication and duty…how could such a courageous specimen spring forth from such an evil monster as Kiryuin Ragyo? I shall always have to wonder…’_

Inumuta poked and prodded his tablet, absorbing all he could about a kamui’s blood access process and consumption. “Kamuis need to feed. Hosts provide the blood, which is their power source. Such is their nature. But…that is assuming the kamui/host dynamic is a normal one. I hereby postulate that Ryuko has moved beyond this, now that Senketsu is gone and her own fibers have dramatically increased in power since then.”

Mikisugu piped up, putting the pieces together as Inumuta spoke. “Yes, that’s it! Lady Satsuki, please do forgive the crudeness of this observation, but in essence, Ryuko _is_ now the kamui. _She_ is the one who needs blood to power herself. The fibers need it to keep up their constant war of attrition with her willpower, and her own blood is simply not enough anymore! Now it is forced to seek outside sources to fuel its never-ending internal battle! It seeks to stay in control at all costs, and it’s not hiding this subjugation process anymore. Such is its nature! Remember, she carries a spliced, modified bit of the Original Life Fiber within her. Such a powerful thing is not to be taken lightly!”

“Interesting. That makes sense. Now how do we stop the process? She once tore Junketsu free from herself, even after Nui had permanently woven it into her very flesh. What did not kill her only made her stronger, of course! But this…the fibers are throughout her entire body, flesh and bone! They cannot simply be ripped off in one heroic swipe, so removal is most likely impossible. So how do we disrupt their growth so that she can be herself again? Is such a thing even possible? I do not want her to be forever locked away in some treacherous asylum or prison!”

“I believe I have devised a way. Since you first approached me to do so, months ago, I’ve sought to create a neutralization agent. A ‘cure’ of sorts, based upon the starch bullet’s original mechanism. It’s about as close to an actual cure as we could get. I’ve worked to ease back the sheer intensity of the original compound, being informed by Inumuta’s valuable life fiber materials research data as I was…so it should bring Ryuko’s fibers down to virtually inert levels, like yours once were, Satsuki-sama. But…there _is_ a risk of it working _too_ well...if it nullifies the fibers that are now performing the tissue functions of certain organs, such as her heart, for example? I…look, I have had _no_ way of testing this! Computerized simulations can only bring me so far in the process. If it’s too strong, it could kill her. If too weak, she might develop an immunity to it. The fibers could come back from it, adapt and be even stronger as a result!”

“Yes, I see. In that case, I have an idea. Is this cure administered orally or injected intravenously? Please don’t say ‘ _by bullet_ ’, because that is simply _not_ going to happen. Getting shot even once was too many times for her.”

“Well, either oral or intravenous would suffice…and a bullet was only ever intended as a delivery vehicle for the ‘berserker mode’ monster, not for poor Ryuko-chan! Injection would get the fastest results, I suppose...but how the hell can we inject her when she’s like this? The fibers will fight any attempt at introducing a needle into her flesh, unconscious host or not…remember how they kept rejecting the I.V. needles in the hospital? And I somehow doubt that Ryuko will cooperate and politely accept a cup of this stuff and drink it all up like a good girl!”

“This is true. How much do you currently have on hand, versus the amount you feel is appropriate for her treatment?”

“Hmm…well, I produced enough to dose her twice over, given the potential for sudden, uncontrolled growth in the case of catastrophic containment failure. I based my dosage calculations upon this chart, which represents the totality of the collected information we have regarding life fiber/human hybridization. Here, see for yourself.”

Aikuro motioned towards the monitor, and a detailed chart filled the screen with life fiber data. Inumuta’s eyes grew wide as they intuited the story behind the colored lines.

“Good lord, that almost looks like the graph for Moore’s Law!”

“Mmm…no, it’s more drastic than that in Ryuko’s case, Hōka. Zoom out. Look here…her data line is more like perusing the planet’s atmospheric carbon dioxide levels over the past few centuries. I was finally able to update this to include Ragyo’s biological data, once Hōka provided me with that massive cache of Dr. Matoi’s research information, as well as what was recovered from REVOCS’ former server archives regarding Nui’s creation. Look what happens when I overlay them all.”

Aikuro swiped across the touchscreen, and multiple data sets were joined together to produce a long-term look at hybrid fiber beings as they grew: an all-encompassing wealth of data that had never been fully visualized by human eyes until now. He tapped the various ever-rising lines, life fiber power levels that had been meticulously mapped out over the past twenty five years.

“Here. Ryuko’s statistics are represented in red, Ragyo in yellow, and Nui in purple. Some data is incomplete, since there wasn’t a lot of research done on Ragyo’s physiology later in life…but we can extrapolate. She, of course, plateaued a few years before her death, but only after a slow, controlled ascent into her self-imposed state of ‘godhood’. Now as for Harime Nui, her line can be seen to rise moderately over time until it skyrockets right about here...her ‘puberty’, I assume? But it then stays the same throughout her life: she was a finished product at that time, so her power level was quite stable...”

“Hmph. That’s about the _only_ thing about her that was ‘stable’.”

“Quite true, Lady Satsuki! Now as you can see, Nui never quite reached the level of Ragyo’s own power; as to whether this was a calculated limit or if there was some unknown factor holding her back, I cannot say…but the fact that she simply couldn’t interface with a kamui at all is most fortuitous. Her insane mind and unpredictable power, augmented by that of a purebred kamui? That would have been unimaginably disastrous!”

“Nui was limited on purpose. I know this to be true…I remember. Mother never wanted to risk anyone _ever_ achieving the potential for more power than herself! She only ever wanted to look down upon others in true megalomaniac fashion, and she took great pains to make it so.”

“Ah? ‘ _Megalomaniac fashion_ ’…hmm. Lady Satsuki, I believe you just summed up Kiryuin Ragyo’s entire existence quite succinctly!”

“ _*sigh*_ Get _on_ with it, Mikisugi.”

“ _-ahem-_ Ah, yes! Of course…now, look here, at Ryuko’s line. As you can see, it was quite low in the beginning: you can actually see the exact times that she was growing in power, and when her father then administered his inhibitor treatment. Dr. Matoi kept close tabs on her progress, and was quite careful about controlling it. It’s no wonder she hates needles with an unholy passion! Now there is a substantial amount of data missing here, after the doctor regrettably passed away. This first data point afterwards was from my own testing, after I first made contact with her. Inumuta, do you see how much she grew in that short amount of time?”

“That is _remarkable_ growth! I, too, took the liberty of examining Ryuko’s blood for clues when she first arrived at the Academy. She left a rather large quantity of it around wherever she went, back in those days! Of course, I hadn’t known how to interpret these particular kinds of readings in her blood at that point. I can see that these data points right…ah, _here_ and _here_ are from my own data analysis. Now that I see the entire story, though…my God, it’s stunning to see it all laid out like this! I had no idea that she was increasing in power so exponentially! I had assumed that her power growth was solely being spurred on by Senketsu’s influence! But it appears that she would have eventually blossomed into a most fearsome opponent, even without his presence! In due time, she could have potentially rivaled even Ragyo herself!”

“Yes, that is all well and true, gentleman. But if you look here… _this_ is where she obtained Senketsu. The growth rate then slows down? Why is this the case, Hōka? Mikisugi? Have either of you any theories?”

“Hmm. I think so. When I worked with Dr. Matoi, he specifically designed Senketsu to function as a fiber power enhancer…but also as a friend and confidant. He…was very cruel in his manipulation of poor Ryuko’s childhood, making her to become a lonely and bitter individual on purpose. I was not privy to this part of his grand plan until it was far too late to intervene. Had I known, I would have sought to appeal to his moralistic nature! It was unforgiveable, to do that to her. But he did it so that Senketsu would be that much more indispensable to her, a beacon of hope in an otherwise dark and cruel life. Her levels were skyrocketing out of control here because she lived in a state of constant stress and utter chaos. Senketsu…he soothed her, calmed her down, introduced a beneficial, constant element of calm into her stormy life. In short, he was created to be her best friend, in order to ensure that their bonding would be of maximum efficiency and hopefully stronger than anything Ragyo could possibly whip up for controlling her instead.”

“Father, how _could_ you…? You were so very loving to me! How could you _do_ this to poor Ryuko? True, I had learned some of this from his personal video journals, but…still, that…that coldhearted _bastard!_ ”

“Yes. Yes, that he was, Lady Satsuki. I truly _am_ sorry, if it means anything to you.”

“What’s done is done. I’ll worry about it later. Right now I need to save Ryuko from the repercussions from all of this callous manipulation.”

“True, true. Ah, look. Lady Satsuki…there’s _one_ more thing I’d like to bring up? I feel that it is necessary to broach this subject at this time. I graphed _your_ power levels as well, from that blood sample I took from your clothes when you first arrived. It only represents a  single data point of course, but…please look at this.”

Aikuro called up the new data, adding it to the graph as a bright blue dot. It blinked in at just under Ryuko’s current point…and just over Ragyo’s last known reading. Satsuki and Hōka both gasped as Aikuro grimly took in their reactions. He exhaled a nervous puff of exasperation, then quietly addressed the statue-still woman.

“I know this is something of a shock…but you are currently more powerful than your mother was at her time of passing. I know you haven’t had the time to discover this, given how this dire situation has unfolded…but we will eventually need to consider _your_ treatment options, as well. I am  not insinuating in any way that you are currently a threat to anyone! Please understand this! But there are a lot of unknowns here, and it certainly appears that hybrid individuals react differently to the process. We simply don’t know how you will develop from here on out. I feel that it will be wise to eventually consider a containment and treatment protocol for you, too.”

Inumuta raised his hand to protest in defense of his erstwhile leader, and Mikisugi quickly silenced him with an index finger. He placed both fists down upon his desk, resolutely locking eyes with the Kiryuin warlord as he laid bare his most serious thoughts regarding the unfolding crisis.

“Let us speak frankly here. Lady Satsuki, I _know_ you do not like me, nor do you respect my opinions or methodologies, beyond what is situationally useful to you at the time. I understand that I can be a most…confounding individual at times. My reasons are my own! Bearing that in mind, I do feel that it is absolutely critical that you learn to take orders from people that are experienced and knowledgeable enough to make such decisions! Either myself _or_ Inumuta, I care not which. I remember your taciturn attitude regarding my professional opinions about your own health, back when Ryuko was comatose in the hospital…and what did that dismissal nearly get you? I’ll tell you: a _gravestone!_ A premature death from untreated cancer, which I would have caught right away if you had allowed me to perform but a single damned physical examination of you! We are playing with _fire_ here, Lady Satsuki! _A potential extinction-level inferno!_ I know your life has served to hone and craft you into being a natural leader, but surely even the most seasoned veteran recognizes the need to put aside personal feeling in the face of indisputable facts! Hate me all you want, I do not care about that! But this is bigger than _all of us!_ So when it comes to this hybrid nightmare, I implore you to _please_ heed the advice of either myself or Inumuta when it comes to such observations!”

Satsuki’s star eyes quivered with laser-burn intensity as they carefully searched Mikisugi’s rock-steady face, then her gaze slowly crawled down to the desk, whereupon they then closed in a moment of quiet introspection.

“You…are correct. My feelings for Ryuko aside, I can indeed rationalize where this _could_ possibly go. I’ve been so focused upon her fate that I haven’t had the time to properly consider my own. As of right now, I feel absolutely no urges out of the ordinary…but I cannot be so arrogant as to assume that my life fibers may not someday try to assume control over _my_ faculties as well. I feel that it may be appropriate to skip right to treating us both at the same time. It is simply too dangerous to allow _anyone_ to possess complete access to such immense power…even myself.”

Inumuta drew back in surprise, not expecting her to move so far ahead in the stages of their united crisis planning. Yet wasn’t Lady Satsuki always prepared to intuitively think three steps ahead of her opponent…even if the opponent was her very own self? She was truly a magnificent commander at heart!

Mikisugi balked at this idea, however. Palms up, he protested as to the inherent dangers of such a plan. “I haven’t had the time to properly study your physiology, or ascertain exactly how you have adapted to this hybridization! I can already note certain changes: her overwhelming strength versus your superior speed, for example…but I cannot assume that you and Ryuko can be treated in the same manner!”

Satsuki prepared to launch a salvo of sarcasm-tipped counterarguments, but they were blown from the sky by Mikisugi’s precise use of counter attitude defenses. “I have formulated a long-term inhibitor treatment for my current patient: one Matoi Ryuko, custom-tailored to _her_ physiology alone! I have a great deal of data regarding her unique status. I know next to nothing of yours! This requires extensive planning, research and time! Otherwise, you could _both_ die!”

“Fine. I shall administer the cure to her myself. I will get her to take her medicine, like a ‘good girl’. We can worry about my predicament later.”

“Well then, fine…glad to hear you finally talking sense. But how are you to accomplish that?”

“Do you doubt my resolve, Mikisugi? Better than you have made that mistake and lived to regret it. Here, give me the bottle. Is this all of it?”

“Yes, that is all I have. If you should spill it, be warned that it will take me a whole week to formulate another batch! Please also remember that you have twice the required dose in that container! Do _not_ administer the entire dose to her at once, or she surely will die! Here, how about I go ahead and split it up so you don’t accidentally-“

“ _No_. I have this under control. Don’t you worry, I can read the container’s fluid amounts just fine, even without my reading glasses! Her life is in my hands…I will not provide anything but the  exact required dose. This is the only chance for Ryuko to live her life out as a normal girl. I, Kiryuin Satsuki, will succeed at obtaining this life for her! _I swear it!_ ”

 “I see. Very well, then. It shall be solely on your conscience, your consequence. I shall monitor her readings from here. Do what you must, Lady Satsuki.”

“One thing, Mikisugi. Whatever you do…please do not interrupt my monologue, once I get in there. I’ll be weaving a rather compelling cover story, but just let it unfold naturally, all right? I don’t need you clumsily interrupting and blowing my true plan. Is that understood?”

“Yes, I understand. I know by now just how masterfully talented you are at bluffing, Lady Satsuki! We shall simply listen in. The chamber’s audio won’t be switched to two-way communication unless it is a dire emergency. I will not interrupt your conversation, you have my word.”

“Good. See that you _don’t._ ”

Satsuki took out her phone, thought with her eyes closed for a moment, then quickly tapped out a brief text message. Once she was done, she then tossed the phone into her coat pocket, then removed the jacket and carefully tossed it aside. She made an effort to straighten her disheveled hair, then paused briefly as she reached for the airlock’s handle. Motioning over to Inumuta, she drew him close and whispered an earnest, last-minute plea to her trusted lieutenant.

“Inumuta, I have to ask of you a favor. If you ever truly respected me, you will carry out this one order, _without question_. Do you understand?”

He nervously swallowed, then nodded as he quietly awaited for the dreaded command that he knew was coming. Loyalty. Honor. He had to hold onto these treasured ideals, for Satsuki’s sake…as well as the rest of the world.

“If this treatment ultimately fails, and we are both reduced to being any manner of monstrous fiber berserkers as a result…I’ll need to you destroy us _both_ , no hesitations, no questions. Should this occur, fill the chamber with _all_ the inhibitor gas you have at your disposal and do not seek to clear it out until we are both dead. _We cannot be allowed to live and breed._ Will you do this one last thing for me, Hōka? If not as your commander, then as my friend? Promise me this one last thing…please?”

Inumuta’s mouth was dry, his pulse dizzyingly fast…yet duty took over and pushed him through the internal panic and chaos that ensnared his fracturing soul. He managed to force out a dry whisper, focusing as he formed these most terrible words. “I…I solemnly _swear_ to you that it will be done, my Lady. I will not fail you. This I promise.”

“Thank you, Hōka-san. I can go on now, knowing that this planet has a final failsafe to rely upon. That _I_ can rely upon…as always! Pray for my success, my elite friend.”

Hōka bowed, eyes low in deference to her magnificent honor. She slipped into the airlock chamber, then turned to look back at him as he started to slowly close the door. Satsuki then suddenly raised the cure container up, uncapped it, tipped it briefly in his direction…and then proceeded to down the entire container’s bitter contents in one forceful swallow.

Inumuta gasped, unbelieving eyes quivering as he suddenly realized the daring core of her mad plan. He whispered out to her, panic surging in his painfully constricted throat. ”Satsuki… _no!_ That’ll kill you! _She’ll kill you!_ ” Satsuki responded to this by smiling faintly, then using her immense strength to jerk the airlock door shut…a low groaning sound could then be heard as she forcefully bent the inside handle back, to prevent it from being opened again.

The automatic _-whoosh-_ of the containment door filled his heart with glacially cold worry. Hōka was most likely going to be forced to witness the terrible death of his beloved leader, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to prevent it…and that was if her plan _succeeded_. If she failed, he would have no choice but to fulfill his ultimate destiny as the entire Kiryuin bloodline’s final executioner.

Eyes glued to the video feed, Mikisugi squinted as he observed Satsuki walking slowly towards the steel table that held Ryuko’s quivering body. “Where the bloody hell...did she forget to bring the damned cure in with her? Hōka! Hey, did she take it in with her? She’s not holding the bottle!”

Inumuta stared at him, eyes dulled with muted shock. “Satsuki has it. I saw it with my own two eyes.” Mikisugi then stared at the two girls through the observation window with a confused expression. “Well, where’s the bottle, then? She left her coat behind! Her pants pockets simply couldn’t hide such a large…what, is it stuffed down inside her _bra_ or something?”

Slumping to the ground, Inumuta could only shrug limply as he watched the drama unfold on the main monitor. “There’s nothing we can do now but watch. Pray, Aikuro. Pray for them both.”

 

 

-

 

 

Ryuko was laying there, seemingly dead to the world. The occasional twitch of her eyes, prowling under closed eyelids, told the true story of her consciousness. She was patiently waiting, like a trapdoor spider, eager to just open up again to her darling prey. It was a terrible attempt at pretending to be asleep…either that, or Satsuki’s senses were just that good now. Barely parted lips revealed Ryuko’s glistening fangs, crimson and fearfully sharp in appearance. _‘Fine, then. That’s the current score…right where I want it to be. The time for pretending is now over, Ryuko…’_

“Ryuko. Wake up. I know you can hear me. No use in hiding it anymore.”

The hybrid creature’s eyes came alive, glowing red eyes focusing upon her visitor. “Mmmmm. My dear Satssssuki….beloved _sisssssterrrrr._ I _love_ you, no matter what you inflict upon me here and now. Let that be known, before you commit to whatever it is you have planned for me!”

“We need to talk, Ryuko. I am not here to harm you. Rather, I’m here to join you.”

Glimmering crimson eyes widened in genuine surprise. “ _Join_ me…? Oh please, _do_ tell?”

“Here now, pay attention. First, I’m going to turn off that inhibitor harness. This is a show of faith between us, so respect it as such. I will expect you to behave during our conversation, so we can communicate properly. Let us discuss the terms in which I shall _agree_ to surrender myself to you, in exchange for your agreement to certain terms of engagement, going forward. Yes, I will admit that your plan has certain...qualities that appeal to me. But it needs to be tempered by _my_ wisdom, and I will need to be seen an equal in this venture! You are _not_ the boss of me, regardless of your own power levels or what you might have done to activate my own!”

Dark red eyes grew into luminescent coals before her. Ryuko smiled a devilishly seductive grin, and Satsuki could swear that she heard purring in the warm, sultry voice that now called out to her.

“There…you see? I _knew_ you would see the light! Mmm…absolute power only waits for those truly wise enough to seize it! What we shall be achieving together…it shall be the tale of legend, to be carved into the very stars themselves…by _our_ rightful hands!”

“Yes…but do also know that I…miss you, as well. I long for your touch, dear heart. I, too, also hurt inside…only your heavenly presence can make me whole again.”

Ryuko’s face relaxed just then, a genuinely tender expression eventually winning out over the gleefully surprised hybrid’s excitement over cementing her status as future heir to the world and the galaxy beyond.

“Sats…I missed you, too. I can’t live without you…I know that now. Come to me. I long for your warmth.”

Satsuki dutifully reached out and turned the collar off, the power audibly cycling down with a spiraling whine as she disconnected the electronic shackles and chains. Ryuko slowly rose up from the metal bed, stretching and bending her back as she smirked at the almost demure creature now standing before her. One hand brushed lovingly past Satsuki’s pale cheek, and Ryuko released a nearly imperceptible sigh of desire as their eyes finally met. Ryuko gently caressed the beautiful woman’s jawline; her sensitive neck and shoulder were slowly being traced as though by a painter’s talented paintbrush. Ryuko smiled, and then quietly murmured her thanks directly into Lady Satsuki’s delicate earlobe.

“Thank you for coming to my rescue, my beloved. I knew you would come to your senses…those terrible shackles were so very restrictive! I simply cannot afford to be restrained or kept from my glorious destiny any longer! Nor can I be kept from what is rightfully _mine_.” With this, her delicate gaze transformed into a predatory sneer in a flash. The soft caress turned into a cruel hook, ensnaring the Kiryuin woman’s long hair with an immensely powerful grip. Ryuko slowly lowered Satsuki’s head down to the bed’s surface as her breathing became deep and agitated.

“Sssssstupid move, Kiryuinnnn! Not like you to make such a missssstake! Here, let me teach you a valuable lesson in paying _attention!_ Time for you to recognize who the boss _really_ is around here!” With this, Ryuko pounced upon Satsuki with lightning speed, bowling her over and pinning her to the metal bed with overwhelming strength. The underlying hair framing her twisted face was now blooming into multitudes of bright red threads, glowing like a sinister bouquet of so many fiber optic strands.

Wincing in pain, Satsuki gasped as she turned her head away from the slavering beast now perilously upon her. She raised her chin, baring her neck towards the razor fangs that hovered mere inches away. “You’re weak, and growing weaker by the moment. You cannot even think straight! You need to feed, don’t you? Go ahead, Ryuko. I shall allow it.”

Ryuko suddenly recoiled at this notion, nostrils flaring with edgy agitation. “No! What _is_ thissss...you’re obviously trying to trick me into killing you! No, I need you! The p-plan! The breeding! I...I can’t!”

Satsuki bared her own fangs towards her captor, eyes glowing bright blue in savage intensity as she snarled bitterly. “Yes, but the _blood..._ you need it, don’t you? When was the last time you even _tasted_ blood that was not your own? Have you even gone that far yet? I need you to be lucid if we are to carry out your plans. It will take more than a bit of mere bleeding to finish Lady Kiryuin Satsuki off, Ryuko! Do as you will. I know you need it...so _take it_!”

Ryuko flinched. Confusion rippled across her snarling, drooling face as she stared hungrily at her delectable prey. Now that she had Ryuko’s full attention, Satsuki slowly rolled her head to one side, purposefully exposing her slender neck to the mad beast. Her beautiful, enticing carotid artery, it was right _there_...swollen and pulsing with sweet, potent blood! Rushing, pulsing, the hot liquid of life itself that powered everything that ever mattered. It was right there for the taking!

“Go on… _take it._ Take  me. I love you. I give myself over to you, Ryuko-chan...flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood. You are growing weaker, I can sense it...do what you must. I trust you. I...I want you. I miss you. ”

Satsuki slowly curled her hands around Ryuko’s head, gently pulling it towards her own exposed throat. A low growl petered out into a heated groan of overwhelming desire as Ryuko snuffled and snorted with increasing fervor. Satsuki’s delicate scent was maddeningly tempting in its alluring proximity. A pointed tongue slowly lapped at the nape of Satsuki’s alabaster neck, quivering with excitement as Ryuko experimentally tasted the light sheen of perspiration that had just started to appear there.

A rush of treasured memories assaulted the young hybrid; back to the very first time of her making ponderously slow, beautiful love to this most exquisite woman...the first hesitant, exploratory fumbles, then the increasingly daring push towards complete body melding. Their loving tribadism had brought them closer than either of them had ever thought possible, and it was a life-changing experience for them both...and the sweaty, frenzied scissoring that followed brought new meaning to the term ‘explosive orgasmic bliss’. To experience the intensity of such tender, heartfelt love...both girls had felt especially blessed to have surrendered to such a desperate dive into physical intimacy on that fateful eve.

The blood now represented _all_ of that in one quick, desperate slash. Ryuko plunged her head down, piercing Satsuki’s engorged artery with urgent force as she surrendered to her primal urges. Crimson eyes rolled back as Ryuko lost herself to the stratospheric orgasm plateau of pulling the sweet, coppery heaven directly from her victim’s shaking, weakening body. Satsuki clutched desperately at Ryuko’s wild, feral hair…but made no effort to prevent it from happening. The pain was incredible, and she could already feel her circulatory system starting to strain in agony from this increasingly traumatic loss of blood.

Mikisugi grabbed his temples in a mad, panicked swipe. “NO! That savage...she’s _killing_ her! Inumuta, we have to  do something!” His fist hovered over the button that would flood the chamber with inhibitor gas...but Hōka’s hand encircled his wrist with a surprisingly powerful grip.

“No, we have to _trust_ Satsuki-sama! This is part of the plan, I just know it! Look, Lady Satsuki...she…she took the full dose, right before she went in there. Ryuko is unwittingly consuming a Trojan horse influx of that cure _right now!_ We just have to pray that it starts to take effect before...before she manages to-“

They both focused upon the unfolding horror before them, of Ryuko slaking her terrible blood thirst at Satsuki’s traumatized neck. Both men noticed at the same time that, while Satsuki was obviously in tremendous agony, she was also apparently in complete control of her faculties as well. One upraised hand, hovering there behind Ryuko’s head, proffered two fingers towards the direction of the containment unit’s window. The rest of her was trembling and shaking like a pitifully wounded creature, but that hand was a motionless stone pillar of sheer concentration. Hōka’s eyes widened as something clicked inside his head.

“Yes…yes, of course! Give her two minutes, Mikisugi, _then_ flood the chamber with just a knockout level of gas. This is all part of her plan.”

Mikisugi slammed his fist down upon the table, frustration flaring in his glimmering eyes. “ _How_ can you know this, Inumuta? If we are wrong, then we may as well have murdered her ourselves!”

One finger pointing towards Satsuki’s outstretched hand, Hōka murmured a quiet, urgent plea to the agitated researcher. “Watch. I know of her ways, and I know enough to trust in her every subtle action, silent or otherwise. Observe.”

As if by cue, one finger curled down, leaving a single index finger pointing up to the ceiling. Still strong, still resolute, even as the rest of her appeared to be quivering with paroxysms of sheer agony while Ryuko voraciously fed upon her lacerated throat. Mikisugi frowned, then reluctantly nodded as he admitted the evidence now before him.

“Hmm. It would appear that you are correct. This can’t all be an act, though. Satsuki is in tremendous danger! Even if this somehow works, I don’t know how we’ll treat her afterwards…we have no blood on hand here, nor are any of us her type!”

Inumuta grinned. “We’ll simply have to play it by ear. Knowing her, she’ll have a plan for that, too. Have faith in Lady Satsuki’s actions, Mikisugi…I know _I_ do.”

 

 

-

 

 

“Agh! That…is _*ah!*_ quite  enough blood for now, Ryuko! Remember our _*hahh*_ agreement!”

“Rrr…nnn _never_ enough! Stop struggling! You are mine to do with as I please, blood puppet! Ha-ha-ha-ha-haaa!”

Satsuki stared up at the slavering beast, vision cloudy and hazy as she fought to stay conscious. The cure was boring a hole into her stomach, cold tendrils radiating out and sapping her limbs of precious strength as she fought valiantly to salvage all she ever loved from impending disaster. Ryuko had the look of a mad dog, glistening streaks of blood covering her lips and lower jaw as she sadistically leered down at her hapless victim. A demented creature stared back down at Satsuki; one that hadn’t yet reached their fill of domination and torture for the time being.

_‘The cure must be working to unhinge her very mind right now; those damned threads are embedded too deeply in her brain! I cannot reason with her like this...and I can’t hold out for much longer! My power is ebbing…losing it far too quickly…damn it all, the breaking point is now here! I cannot allow this to go on!’_

Choking and sputtering, Satsuki struggled to look towards the chamber’s observation window. She managed to cough out a weak order, hoping that it would be detected before she lost all consciousness at the cruel hands of this demented fiber beast.

“A...audio! _*ghack*_ N-now!”

Mikisugi’s voice chirped to life from the room’s speakers. “Lady Satsuki! Current status?”

Struggling to stay awake, Satsuki used every ounce of her strength to pry Ryuko’s iron fists away from her esophagus to allow for a proper answer. “Amount of cure...too weak! Dump...full amount of gas _*krrch*_ i-into the chamber…now!”

“But...a full amount of inhibitor gas, in conjunction with the cure? It’ll overwhelm you both! Lady Satsuki, that’s a _death sentence!_ ”

Ryuko’s nose wrinkled as she slowly caught on to the true nature of their conversation. “Did you jus’ say…‘cure’? Wha’…what‘re you really plannin’ here, woman…eh?” She found her words to be slurring as waves of nausea bolted through her midsection. Sudden panic rippled through her tense frame as an oddly bitter, medicinal taste flooded her mouth, washing over the coppery flavor of well-earned blood like a tsunami of frigid fear.

Satsuki reflexively coughed as she sought to keep Ryuko occupied for just a few more moments. “Better us than _*hukk*_ the entire  planet! Simply flood the chamber with all you have on hand...no time for calculations! _Do as I say!_ We’re both _*hrrrmmmff*_ w-weakening, but I can’t hold her back for much longer! She’s too damned strong!”

“No, I refuse! There’s too much risk! I won’t become your executioner!”

“Damn it, you sparkly jackass...fine! _Hōka!_ Fulfill your promise to me... _now!_ ’

Before Mikisugi could stop him, Hōka hammered down upon the glowing green button that released the inhibitor jets. He then quickly spun the dosage dial up to full power. The ceiling’s containment tanks made hollow, metallic whines as their pumps spooled up to deliver the massive dose. Mikisugi’s eyes bulged out in panicked disbelief as Inumuta then set himself in front of the control panel, arms raised up and stance at the ready to fend off any sort of physical attack.

“Inumuta! You _idiot!_ That’s too much! It will end up killing them _both_ if we don’t turn down that damned dial!”

“I made a promise. I shall not break it.”

“Hōka! Damn it all, man! They’ll die for sure!”

“…I know. Once again: I made a promise. _I shall not break it._ ”

 

 

-

 

 

Satsuki could feel her immense fiber-borne powers ebbing; cold, metallic bitterness filled her mouth as both the cure and the anesthetic gas saturated her body with icy rivers of fiber-nullifying doom. She could also see that Ryuko was visibly flagging as well: her eyes were glazing over and fists were slowly losing their titanic grip upon her own hands. However, Satsuki was currently at a tactical disadvantage, since she had been outclassed in the strength department from the very beginning. This situation was quickly becoming untenable. It was time to even the odds, or at the very least…guarantee a Pyrrhic victory.

Satsuki flailed out desperately with one hand and grabbed the inhibitor collar harness. Suddenly her forehead snapped up, bashing Ryuko’s sensitive nose with a skull-crushing headbutt. Agony burst right through Ryuko’s wall of incoherent aggression as hot blood splattered down all over Satsuki’s face and chest. Satsuki then focused all of her remaining power towards wrapping the harness around the both of them, weaving it in and out of their struggling limbs as they rocked back and forth. She deftly snapped one shackle cuff onto Ryuko’s wriggling wrist, then secured another to one of her own.

Grimacing with terrible pain, the Kiryuin warrior then reached out and flicked the inhibitor collar back on while Ryuko was momentarily distracted by her shattered nose. Sizzling jolts of energy immediately blasted through both girls as their united screams quickly reached an ear-piercing crescendo. Their bodies involuntarily stiffened as though they were somehow sharing the electric chair for some unimaginable crime: limbs were rendered immobile and painfully rigid as agonizingly hot jolts of energy stabbed through the united core of their very existence.

Fighting through pulsing waves of boiling white agony, Satsuki somehow managed to squint up and observe her dear sibling’s current physical status. She needed to gauge just how the cure was currently affecting the monstrous hybrid. What were the chances that Ryuko might just…flop over in a few moments and peacefully let the chemicals do their sacred job? What were the odds that her daring gamble was going to actually pay off?

One glimpse and she could tell…they were not good.

Where bright crimson once stood out, bolts of shimmering multicolored swaths were now evident in amongst Ryuko’s underlying mass of hair, her infamous red streak now a glowing rainbow dagger sticking out from her skull. Terrifyingly sharp teeth were now painfully gritted together as she jerked and spat from the energy’s terrible sting. Ryuko glared down upon her elder sibling, white-hot rage dominating her hatefully contorted face.

“ _Rrrrrr_ …yy **you _._** You let me _*cough*_ take your damn blood on p’rpose ‘cause there was _*hurkch*_ somethin’…contaminatin’ it! _*hurrk*_ I c’n taste it now, burnin’ inside o’ me! What _is_ this shit…did you try t’ _poison_ me, Sas’ki? Poisonin’ **me**? Nice…t-try, you bitch! _*uhkk!*_ What doesn’t k-kill me _*hurk*_ makes m-me…s-stronger! Fuck takin’ over this _*hnnngh*_ p-planet with your help…I’ll have t’ make do w-wit’ _*rrrrnnngggh*_ m-matin’ wit’ your fuckin’ _corpse!_ ”

Satsuki blanched as fear started to scrape frozen talons through her spinning mind. _‘This is all taking too long…it’s not enough! Have to find a way of overwhelming the energy of those stubborn bastard fibers so the cure can be afforded a chance to neuter them, once and for all! Time to push this to the very edge, or go sailing right over it…!’_

Consciousness rapidly graying out at the edges of her peripheral vision, Satsuki desperately reached out and grabbed the main neck collar mechanism, now dangling loosely in amongst the tangled harness leads. It sparkled with bright blue arcs of energy, and every jolt felt like a billion hornet stings all at once as Satsuki clutched it to her heaving chest.

Satsuki could sense a noticeable pattern to the inhibitor harness pulses: an odd sort of resonance was building up, and it was steadily growing stronger as the mechanism slowly lost its structural cohesion. Being wrapped up with such a volatile concentration of opposing life fibers was creating an immensely powerful feedback loop…one determined push, and it would all go supercritical.

She gasped out a defiant, withering growl at her captor, glowing blue eyes crackling with electric fire as she locked herself into one final death grip with her beloved sibling, her better half…her beautiful murderer.

Ryuko’s infuriated eyes were brought to a brief, confused pause as Satsuki answered her mad glare with an impossibly still gaze of sadness. Tears of blue fire streamed forth from Satsuki’s haunted eyes as she reached up to gently caress her dear sister’s blood-slicked chin one last time. Confused, Ryuko panted and fumed as she tried to divine the meaning of such an odd gesture. Satsuki’s last whisper was devoid of volume, but powerful in meaning.

“To the entire world, you may have been one person…but to one person, you were the entire world. I love you, Ryuko-chan… _goodbye._ ”

Satsuki then screamed as the glowing ring was torn asunder with the very last of her strength, one final act of savage defiance that concealed within it a hidden, desperate prayer. Her last thoughts were of how it was now up to the mercurial whims of Fate to decide how this tragedy would play out. She prayed for their souls, knowing that one way or the other...this was the end.

The world exploded.

 

 

-

**Author's Note:**

> Content notes:
> 
> Sequel to ‘Gravity’ (Yes, the actual one this time). Only one more chapter left...
> 
>  
> 
> Friendly reminder: the Kiryuin family name (鬼龍院) means 'Temple of the Demon Dragon’ or 'School of the Demon Dragon’.
> 
> Hasami-zuki scissors punch: http://www.nantanreikan.ca/Glossary/H/hasami%20zuki/hasami%20zuki.html
> 
> Superfluid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfluidity
> 
> Moore’s Law chart: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Transistor_Count_and_Moore%27s_Law_-_2011.svg/1200px-Transistor_Count_and_Moore%27s_Law_-_2011.svg.png
> 
> Carbon dioxide atmospheric levels chart: http://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/co2-2.gif


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